THIS BLOG OPPOSES DRACONIAN LAWS & POLITICAL SCAPEGOATING BY SOME POLITICIANS! * THE PUNISHMENT IS THE CRIME * FOR A WORLD WITHOUT VIOLENCE * WHERE DOES THAT COME FROM? * A) DALAI LAMA: "LOVE, PEACE AND KINDNESS YOU CAN'T BREAK IT." * B) FREDERICK NIETZSCHE: "LOVE YOUR ENEMY." * THERE IS ALSO FORGIVENESS BUT YOU DON'T GET THE COMPLETE PROTECTION UNLESS YOU ACCEPT BOTH OF THE A & B CONDITIONS * & FOR THAT YOU MUST COME TO TERMS WITH C) FORGIVENESS * :-)

Friday, March 7, 2003

They can be arrested, tortured, tried, convicted or flogged on evidence that would not be accepted by an Australian court.

They can languish in poor health in dangerous conditions, surviving only because relatives and friends send them money for food, medicine and protection or because Australian embassy officials pressure for an improvement in their treatment.

Robert Thomas, sentenced to 300 lashes by a Saudi court, is one of many Australians caught up in a foreign legal system.

All up, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is helping 146 Australians doing time in jails overseas. It provides consular assistance to a further 98 Australians facing charges overseas.

"All over the world, prisoners and detainees are held in conditions which threaten their health and their lives," says Russell Thirgood, president of Amnesty International, Australia.

Forty-five Australians are detained in the US, 65 in Europe, 16 in China, 26 in Thailand, and others in locations such as the Philippines, China, Vietnam and South America.

In some jails overseas, there are health and education programs, and remissions for good behaviour. Some countries offer legal and constitutional protection, including the right to a state-funded lawyer.

The United States, however, has detained without trial about 650 men from 43 countries. They include Australians David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib, who are held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base as part of the sweep against global terrorism [scapegoats for the Coalition of the Killing's, pre-emptive strikes, occupation and genocide for resources in the Middle East.]

A Melbourne man, Jack "Jihad" [keyword: Jihad] Thomas, has been held in Pakistan for months, without charge, allegedly for links with the al-Qaeda terrorist group [scapegoat to bolster support and quell dissent for the Coalition of the Killing's resouce wars.]

Australians jailed in the 50-plus countries that have a prisoner exchange agreement with Australia can serve out their sentences at home.

Overseas prison conditions came into focus again this week after Robert Thomas, an anaesthetic technician, was jailed and flogged for theft.

His family and friends are critical of Foreign Affairs, saying not enough has been done to free him, while Mr Thirgood says Amnesty regards the floggings as torture.

But a department spokeswoman said: "Mr Thomas advised us in writing that he had decided to accept the verdict, with only a verbal protest. Nevertheless, we proposed to Mr Thomas last November that we make representations to the Saudi authorities given Australia's strong opposition to corporal punishment. He agreed we could do that."

She said he had an air-conditioned cell that he shared with 11 other prisoners, and a television with access to English-language programs. He had access to a laundry and to funds via a prison trust. Embassy officials had visited him and given him books, she said.

"They let him watch Skippy and The Curiosity Shop," said his daughter Sarah Munro. "He can use the laundry but he has to pay for it, and he cannot eat the local food, so he has to buy Western food. He has no money for any of this. We send it to him."

War criminal PM backs missile defence investigation but he is not on his own. Bob Carr dubbed Darth Vader after draconian laws were introduced in NSW following John Howard's threats to strike first and ask questions later. [?]

NSW Young Lawyers' Criminal Law & Human Rights Committees, however, have been concerned about the civil rights trade-offs that both major parties have been proposing (or, in the case of the Government, implementing) prior to the election.

Related:

Human Rights 'Framed'Here is a quick report on our Human Rights Commission approach on Framed (the quarterly magazine of Justice Action) being banned from all NSW prisons. After 42 issues went in.

Prison Privatisation: Death camps looming in NSWI asked for the identification of the person I was speaking to and was told that I was not entitled to that information. I needed to verify the call and asked for a name or number to register my call because I was asked to get those details by my coordinator.The person refused to identify themselves either by name or number. I asked to be transferred to a senior person and was refused. The person I spoke to then hung up the phone.

Justice Action criticises Govt's victim voice policyVictims are not being properly considered in compensation and no expression is given to them, of community goodwill. A spokesperson for Justice Action Mr Brett Collins said, "No community expression or concern is given to the victims of crime. They feel their pain is not acknowledged by the government which tries to balance pain against pain. Never! The community is being misled."

Death camps looming in VictoriaA letter was received on 15 January 03 from SCS-4\320 a remand prisoner in Victoria's Barwon Prison I later found out that the prisoner was in the Acacia High Security Unit.

Jail search finds knives, syringesMr Brett Collins a spokesperson for Justice Action said, "It shows there is a lot of desperation in the prison system at the moment and has been for some time."

Take crime talk beyond the bars:'lobby group'A coalition of academics, crime experts, welfare and church groups is preparing to launch an intensive pre-election campaign aimed at refocusing the attention of NSW politicians from harsh sentencing reforms to crime prevention strategies.

Fiona Stanley, the children's crusaderIt is all about prevention. As Fiona Stanley sees it, with one in five Australian teenagers experiencing significant mental health problems, there are just not enough treatment services to cope with the demand.

APPOINTMENT OF KLOK IS: 'DECLARATION OF WAR'The decision of the Carr government to appoint John Jacob Klok as the new Assistant Commissioner for Corrective Services in charge of security represents a statement of contempt to all those concerned about law and justice in NSW.

Prisoners Representatives ExcommunicatedRon Woodham, Commissioner Corrective Services stated "[this Department] does not recognise Justice Action as an advocate on correctional centre issues." He has ordered a ban on all Justice Action material inside the NSW prison system. This resulted from a request for the approval of the latest edition of Framed (the Magazine of Justice Action) to be distributed throughout NSW prisons as has occurred for the past ten years.

Dept of Corrective Services: Rotten Ron Woodham on the ropesThis is The Freeedom Of Speech and The Press in a goldfish-bowl! Herr Goebells has spoken. Zieg Heil! (Which means, actually: "aim-for health!" incidentally)Apologies for not making meetings ... my first experiences with Woodham (then a -screw-gestapo-minor-with-a-friendly-dog - AND YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS WHEN EVEN HIS DOG DOESN`T LIKE HIM?)

At the Minister's Pleasure The case of Michael KellyMichael is caught up in a particularly cruel version of the game of Cat and Mouse. Because he is classified as a forensic patient under the Mental Heath Act of NSW, the Minister for Health is his master, not the Minister for Corrective Services. And the Minister for health will not let him go.

EX-PRISONER UNEMPLOYMENT: SENTENCED FOR LIFEName removed by request served time in prison decades ago. Shes still being punished today. According to commonwealth and state legislation, ex-prisoners applying for jobs must declare any conviction that fits into the following categories: less than 10 years old, more than 10 years old but served more than 30 months in prison.

ARE YOU INNOCENT?The Australian Law Reform Commission had recommended that the Innocence Panel be independent and have the power to investigate alleged miscarriages of justice.

RESTORING TRUE JUSTICE:Australian prisons are fast becoming the new asylums of the third millennium. The prison industry is booming, while Australia spends far less on mental health services than similar countries.

NSW Department of Corrective Services attack right to privacyCorrective Services Minister Richard Amery has a problem attacking prisoners right to privacy.It seems to us that a civil society is best served when social justice laws are applied to all people regardless of their circumstances. Once government starts making exceptions which disadvantage certain groups and individuals, such laws are meaningless.

Litigants are drowning: in the High CourtThere were so many self represented litigants appearing in the High Court that more than half of its registry staff's time was taken up in dealing with them. The "go it alone" litigants have to take on tasks well above their qualified league causing them stress. This growing problem cannot be left unchecked.

Everyone wants to get out of 'jail' but 'Framed' wants life: Rotten Ron on the ropes On 2 May 2002, Justice Action received a faxed letter from Manager of DCS Operations Support Branch saying that, in his view, articles in Framed edition #42 'lack balance and integrity' and he is therefore 'not prepared to recommend this issue of Framed for placement in to correctional centre libraries.' Prisoners and those concerned about prisoner issues have very few sources of information.

Medical Records: Alex Mitchell's lost worldPerhaps we can get your medical report and spew it around publicly so you can see how it feels. But surely we do not have to go that far. And of course we are law-abiding citizens and I should think it would be enough to remind you of your ethics to report at all.

Prisoners can prove innocence for $20?Les Kennedy Daily Telegraph reported today that" Prisoners who believe that DNA will prove they were wrongly convicted will have the chance to prove their innocence for a mere $20 administration fee. The move comes 20 months after NSW inmates were asked to provide DNA for comparison with a databank of DNA from unsolved crime scenes for possible convictions.

NSW opposition pledges review of detention lawsA spokesperson for Justice Action Ms Anal Advice said " NSW Prisons are a sex offence if you have been raped, bashed and squatted down to be strip searched. People should be diverted from going there at all material times".

The punishment: Is the 'crime'The punishment is the crime according to retired chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia Justice Alistair Nicholson. "Smacking a child ought to be seen as assault".

Mr. & Mrs. Mandatory SentencingWell congratulations to the bride and groom. Could you please be upstanding and raise your glasses for Mr. And Mrs. Mandatory.

Just wipe your arse on Ivan again Minister?Mr Amery Minister for Corrective services has a problem with finding a toilet roll to wipe his bottom. Justice Action is appalled at the attacks by Amery and others in parliament on Ivan Milat's right to privacy and their attacks on the Privacy Commissioner and his office.

NSW Parliament Bitter Pills To Swallow?One delusion pill: So people who investigate their own mistakes make sure there was no mistake or someone else made the mistake. Perhaps you're not biased and you will be honest about it.

NSW prisons - primary industry bailed up!In many quiet regional centres around NSW there is a new primary industry shaping up. It has something to do with Bail but not with bales. The minister for Agriculture Richard Amery who also has the prisons portfolio is now committed to farming prisoners.

Black NexusThe Separation of Powers Doctrine is nowcontaminated witharangeofcolours, now leaving us with a black shirt on a once blue bridge that crossed that thin blue line. The 'Amery and Woodham show'.

Prison Mind Games-Do they exist?Directives are given inside the prison system that are not consistent with the law in NSW. And not in the good interests of the health and well being of the prisoners.